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A roofing worker in Piasa, Illinois fell 27 feet to his death on Aug. 4^th, 2014 because his employer, Mid-State Construction & Roofing Inc., failed to provide fall protection, according to OSHA.

Almost two-thirds of Americans 70 and older suffer from hearing loss ranging from mild to severe, according to what might be the first study to estimate the prevalence of hearing impairment in a nationally representative sample of older adults, The New York Times recently reported.

According to ISHN’s 2015 EHS State of the Nation subscriber survey, much EHS programmatic work in 2015 centers on: 1) building and/or maintaining a safety culture for organizations (54%); 2) finding and fixing workplace hazards (48%); 3) conducting risk assessments and risk prioritization (43%); and 4) tracking safety and health performance measures other than counting injuries and illnesses (38%).

A growing number of pharma companies are pursuing drugs for the ear, according to a recent article in The New York Times. A clinical trial recently began of a gene therapy being developed by Novartis that is aimed at restoring lost hearing, according to the article.

Rail tank cars that carry crude oil, ethanol and other hazardous materials across the country must do it more safely. That's one of four new issues on the NTSB's Most Wanted List for 2015. Also new to the list of top 10 areas that need safety improvements are: Requiring that transportation operators be medically fit for duty; strengthening commercial trucking safety; and requiring pilots to strengthen procedural compliance.

A teenaged worker at an outdoor amusement park was burned after collapsing near a food stand fryer from excessive heat on June 9, 2014. An OSHA investigation into the incident found that seasonally-employed workers, mostly teen employees, hired as outdoor and food stand staff at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pa. were exposed to heat hazards during their summer employment.

A 37-year-old worker at Agridyne's Pekin facility climbed down into a rail car to clean out corn steep residue and was overcome by dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas. A 29-year-old tank inspector, who attempted to rescue the first worker, succumbed to the gas exposure as well. Neither worker made it out of the car alive.

The maturity and evolution of the EHS profession (going beyond the traditional compliance mindset) is evident in the most serious hazards pros say they will contend with in 2015, according to ISHN’s 2015 EHS State of the Nation subscriber survey.

Small businesses are prepared to adopt workplace wellness programs and, based on the kinds of health risks facing employees, are a good target for such health interventions according to new research published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine from the Colorado School of Public Health.

Harmful levels of road traffic noise affect one in four people in Europe and raise health risks ranging from sleepless nights to heart disease, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has stated.